Wondering if you are related to another family with the same surname or belong to a certain clan?

Do you want to corroborate research and prove a genealogical connection?

Are you adopted or have an illegitimacy in your family tree?

Until recently genealogy has relied upon documentary evidence alone such as church records, census information, legal records, estate and family papers along with secondary published sources to confirm and extend a family tree.

These sources are usually paper and prone to the ravishes of time - water, mice and men and thus susceptible to destruction and human error. Perhaps you have been able to use oral and family tradition, but still have a patchwork of missing evidence and need corroboration to prove a connection between individuals.

What you need is something that is objective and that ties you to your biological ancestors. What if you were born with some sort of "ancestral barcode�?

Fortunately your DNA is like a bar-code recording evidence of your ancestors and their history. Why not unlock these clues with DNA testing?

DNA testing can show:

if two people are related

if two people are descended from the same ancestor

your suggested geographic origins

the origin of the populations from which your deep ancestry is derived (Family Finder test and the National Genographic test kit)

There are three types of test available:

a paternal line test, (also known as the father line test) traces the direct male line of descent back from a son, to his father, to his grandfather, to his great grandfather, etc. Only males can take this test as the Y-chromosome is only inherited by males. Females need to get a male relative to take the test for them as a proxy.

a maternal line test, also known as mtDNA which can be taken by both males and females as mitochondrial DNA is passed from a mother to all her children (but only females pass it on). Therefore this test traces the line of descent from a child, to his/her mother, to his/her grandmother, to his/her great grandmother etc.

the third test called Family Finder traces close ancestry on all 16 of your great great-grandparents. Both males and females can take this test. The test uses autosomal DNA of which roughly 50% is inherited from each parent. The test can therefore allow you to match individuals across gender.

For males a test is available if you wish to learn about your deep paternal ancestry. The National Genographic 'Geno 2' test is ordered and undertaken after your 37 or 67 marker test results have been delivered and can be ordered from your Family Tree DNA homepage. Alternatively you can order specific markers called SNPs (Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms) from Family Tree DNA to identify your particular branch or twig of the paternal tree.

Advice on the suitability of this test or the interpretation of your test results can be undertaken by ordered the product called DNA tests and results explained